#(you're very kind and cool and a great artist and storyteller!)

[veinsfullofstars]

🐾 Quite beastly! 🐾

(ID: Kirby series fanart of @jojo-schmo’s Elfilis & Bandee from her Forgotten Land Roleswap AU. Elfilis leaps towards our right, reaching away and glancing at the light over their shoulder, flowers scattering in their wake. Bandee hovers parallel to them, glaring at the viewer and holding his spear-turned-scythe across his shoulders, the blade curving beneath him and catching the light in sharp sparkles, his ragged cape billowing around him, and red feathers floating behind him. END ID.)

Started 01/17/25, finished 01/18/25.

[katatonicimpression]

Marius est Revenu!

(Oui je parle français tres bien. Merci pour noticing)

Today, we're turning our attention to Avengers Academy: Marvel's Voices - Infinity Comic (2024) 15-19.

AA:MV-IC (2024), as you can tell from its snappy title, is an online scrolling format comic, aimed at the young lgbt demographic. It's free to read with a marvel subscription, or, you know, on the high seas. It's also the most attention anyone has paid to Marius St. Croix (aka emplate) since the 1990s.

He has a small, comedic recurring role in last years dark xmen, and was in uncanny xmen (2016) in a tedious and uninteresting way.

Here he is in 2024:

Look at him. That's his sidekick/henchman, D.O.A. who did briefly cameo in the gen x revival series with M-Plate 2.0, but mostly is a relic of the 90s.

And boy howdy is this a loving walk down memory lane. I'm just going to make a couple of kinda random points here, nothing very thorough. It's a good little read, check it out.

Also sorry but I did not keep track of what was in what issue and double sorry I really can't be arsed to go back through gen x to get accurate citations so there just won't be those.

The Art

The art alternates between Bailie Rosenlund and Karen S. Darboe, with colours by KJ Díaz. I think they all did a stellar job. Darboe takes the edge for me I think, because those creepy inky compositions are so early gen x.

But it's not a competition. They both did great.

Throwbacks

The art is a perfect throwback. We see DOA. We see the cell that Monet was kept in from the very first issue. We see the creepy hands dragging Marius back to his hell from the issue in Monaco.

Akabdjdknsgjkx my nostalgic little heart

I read the series for the first time 4 years ago so idk why it feels like my childhood but whatever. Nostalgia galore. And it really feels like they're trying, you know? They did their homework, did their reading and are bringing it to the page. Love it.

Marius' Hair

Fun fact: in gen x, its stated that the reason emplate has that spikey purple hair is because he's been eating Monet's bone marrow while she was trapped in Penance. He fed on her for so long that his appearance changed to match hers.

Damn I hate marius fuck that guy.

But yeah, so the purple spikes aren't his hair, really, they're Penance's thing.

His human hair is usually depicted as locks, and why yes you're right there is a conversation about racial stereotyping here. Marius has sometimes been an example of the age old trope where, in depictions of a Black family, the women have paler skin and straighter hair than their male relatives. That's a whole trope right there, and it's nasty and bad and we're not going to dwell on it too much for now but yeah.

So, over the years some artists have tried to bridge the gap between the spikes and locks (e.g. in uncanny xmen 2016). Darboe does this too, but ties it into the way his appearance morphs as the powers of the kids he's eating influence his body. There's a fluidity to how she depicts him, and the way his hair changes from that iconic emplate silhouette to his human hair is part of that. It's a really cool detail.

Man I love visual storytelling. Comics are great.

Rosenlund goes for longer hair, unlike what we've ever seen him in but I kind of like it. He kinda looks like he just never washes his hair, which tracks. (OK I won't bully the comic book villain. Sorry)

I guess while we're close to the subject of racial background, I'll mention that we get a bit of flashbacks and family stuff here and it's all pretty vague, and there's no good reason for that.

For the record this is a wealthy Monégasque family, French and Black on their dads side, Algerian on their mothers. Their primary language is French, and the kids and their mum spoke Arabic at home too. They (the kids and the mum) are Muslim. Does any of this make it into this comic? Lol, no. The rich part does. But I will say it felt like a generic lack of detail, rather than in uncanny xmen when the vagueness feels malignantly dumb.

Sisters

The writer (Anthony Oliveira) makes a joke about not being able to keep track of the whole "monet is actually two kids in a trenchcoat" thing from gen x.

Interestingly, the little flashback panels we get only show the twins, not monet (this was the original plan way way back - to have monet not be a real person). We do get a line of dialogue from another character that references monet, but I think maybe the artist forgot she was real.

We also get another baffling St. Croix family portrait:

This is, presumably, (giant) Marius at the top, mystery man next to him. Next row is presumably cartier (because glasses), with either Jameela or Monet, then the twins below.

The other bizarre family portrait appears in some other comic (I genuinely don't remember at all):

This time we have no mystery man (rip uncle claude) and definitely three sisters. Idk I guess they can blame it on dimension hopping.

I Told You So

This is a thing I ranted about months ago but yes. Vindicated. Marius killed his mum on purpose because he's a piece of shit. Yes. Thank you someone who has clearly read the comics.

It's in the issue where cartier speaks to marius (back half of the series, after the prom). The manifestation of marius' powers sparked it, but it wasn't an accident.

This comic's take on the story demonises cartier a bit, but he can take the hit tbh. It's not identical to the original (there's some bitterness about inheritance this time around) but it seems in the spirit of things.

I also like how marius was characterised in this. It feels very in keeping with gen x. He's a monster, who predates on kids (although he's hilariously quick to insist that it's not a sex thing). He's educated, erudite. He's corrupted, doomed by his own pursuit of power and dark magic. This infinity comic gives him way more depth than dark xmen or uncanny 2016, by exploring those canon traits.

I don't know I just like it. I think a villain can be layered and interesting without being sympathetic. I do wish people would keep that in mind. Also he's never gonna reconcile with his sister. Not to vague post or anything but:

The guy is literally monets abuser can you stop it.

Hey, Look. It's Bobby

Aww I love it when he's in comics. Everyone say hi to bobby.

Is he a recurring character in this? Am I gonna have to read the baby gay avengers series because of this?

My Face, My Beautiful Face

I like how when marius absorbed enough power to take his mask off, his priority was his own hotness. I'm finally pretty again! Noooo don't make me ugly once more i can't take it!!!

Something about the st croixs lol.

Actually Talk About the Comic?

No. Lol. Go read it.

I only found out he was in this series because I saw a post saying "they changed emplates whole deal" or something to that affect. He's always been a bit undefined but I think this entry is very in keeping with his early appearance.

The main story is about Escapade and Bloodline and their budding romance. It's cute. It's fun. I liked it.

I don't do ratings but let's give it ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆ out of some number.

[splashink-games]

Welcome to Miau Cafe by Mewo.

Cat Cafe Manager is a management game by Roost Games where you run your own cat cafe! Adopt cats, find recipes, and befriend the locals in this super cute sim!

So fun fact: I'm a dog person. I've owned two dogs and I've rarely interacted with cats, much less owned one. But obviously I'm not against cat themes. Hence my great enjoyment of Cat Cafe Manager.

As a management sim, Cat Cafe Manager's mechanics hits the right notes.

A very simple hold-to-perform-task (or click) along with some movement and boom, you've got solid micromanaging. Later on, you can hire some help to ease the burden, though once you're in post game, it's impossible to keep up without them (unless you've got a tiny cafe).

The skills for both cats and workers are interesting and kinda overpowered at points. And that's not a bad thing! Actually, it's kind of warranted since the customer needs scale kinda vigorously and all those skills that give +2 for just having furniture is great.

I like the different customer types and their connection with each regular - Carla-Lalla for witches, Bonner for Fishermen, and so on. Their needs are also all different and they increase when you progress with each character's story, which is cool. Though a downside to that is that you can't really have a specific theme going until post game, especially because you've gotta kinda take best available until then.

Speaking of themes, the furniture are actually pretty interesting and an integral part of meeting customer needs, especially since those business people require very high comfort as you progress. But also the witches and artists need books, but you only have, like, 6 book points until you unlock the last two sets of furniture?? And like, if your cafe isn't big enough to fit all of it,

It gets incredibly out of hand quickly if you advanced the character arcs without unlocking that furniture. Their needs are much higher than the resources at hand. And the furniture unlocks pretty much act as a bottleneck where you can't call regulars until you do unlock them. It's an interesting way to make sure you're prepared for those increased needs.

So I've spent all that time, but I haven't talked about the cats yet. Apart from being cute, the cats are very funny as they zoom around your cafe, sitting on customers' laps or ask for things. Just like customer needs, they've got needs too. And if their needs aren't met, you've gotta clean up or attend to them like a customer. So just cause you can adopt more cats, doesn't mean you should! (Especially when you don't have enough space for all those litter boxes)

The storytelling is light but good. You get chunks of character development from your regulars as well as overarching story progress from completing a number of cafe upgrades.

There's also special Friendship Furniture that adds even more narratives that feature more than one character. I liked this part a lot because it showcased a lot of the dynamics that we hear about, but never see, in their solo arcs.

I am kind of disappointed about Hoover (the Friendship Furniture guy) not being a regular. First of all, cause we never get to know about him, but he's got all this special furniture? Second of all, he fits into the vagabond category of which we don't have a regular for.

Overall, Cat Cafe Manager is a great management sim where you can spend tons of time with customers and cats and creating a cool cafe! Definitely recommend.

As always,

Enjoy Gaming!

[cesium-sheep]

I read 1-10 of vampire dormitory, I'd read 1-4 before but I reread them before I started on the rest that I got in a recent humble bundle. light warnings for a brief moment of suicidality and small incidents with creeps, but more significant warnings for, I guess, forced masculinization? and deliberately inflicted magical amnesia. both of those are basically all of volume 5 plus a couple pages on either end. mito isn't happy about her disguise no longer being a disguise, especially since she thinks ruka will only love her if she's a girl though he obviously proves otherwise which breaks both spells, and technically consents to the magical amnesia though it seems ren implants a bunch of false memories as well to drastically inflate his own importance in her life which is hella shady.

volume 5 in general just feels like it was essentially used as an elongated time skip to significantly rush forward ruka and mito's relationship without having to put in the work, and drive away ren the rival cuz he straight up fuckin leaves after all that until the end where he comes in to deus ex it. yet at the same time post "skip" the secondary characters' relationship hasn't budged an inch from where it moves very early in all that mess and they immediately throw in a new love rival instead.

there is also some technically forced feminization as well but the side character is willing to roll with it since it gives him another shot at his crush, that kind of "I love him but he only likes girls so it sure would be convenient if I became a girl" type thing that feels pretty outdated these days, although every time weird gender shit happens the ultimate conclusion tends to be "I don't care if you're a boy or a girl I love you for you" which is nice. and also that both people who go through gender shit want to live as their birth genders, which is fine on its own but kind of weird that it happened twice in one story? a little shady?

also weird that she suddenly pulls a yona all the way in volume 9 after having basically no character all series tbh. and there's more standard like, kidnapping and brainwashing type stuff.

honestly I think the best of it was all in the first 4 volumes I actually specifically bought, and this artist as a whole is a shotgun writer with a hummingbird mentality. and sometimes that results in some delightfully buckwild shit but a lot of the time none of it goes anywhere and it just flits around aimlessly until it ends. which, they're so prolific I am absolutely certain they're someone's favorite, but I think honestly I should give up on them entirely at this point given that the one series I got past the first volume of just turned out to be the same soup as the other series I've discarded with a nicer bowl. stuff that would be cool if it had been set up, other stuff that would have been cool if it hadn't been dropped for something else shiny, really just low rent serial storytelling (derogatory).

something like this, someone just meandering around with their setting and characters until they're told they need to wrap it up, I always have to compare to host club, which absolutely was not planned out from the beginning even if the most abstract sense but still did a great job of handling its characters, never losing track of them and allowing them to grow gradually with all the time it was given, instead of suddenly hopping from one static state to another (or just not changing at all). and always keeping the stakes in relatively the same scale.

(plus it's not even actually the end, it keeps fucking going. apparently in volume 11 she goes to fuckin monster high. I'm done, I'm not reading any more of this series. or probably this artist tbh.)

[pastelskyesblog]

Thoughts on the parents of Coral Island: Dad edition

So... I think it's still too early to say considering everyone's stories and dialogues aren't complete yet but here's my thoughts on the parents of Coral Island so far

Jim

what do you mean Lily's job is not a real job?

being rather cold at first aside, he's a pretty cool dude

have you seen his younger pic drawn by the og artist? holy shit he was so hot

major tsundere vibes. like seriously we started off with him saying I look like I've never used a tool in my entire life before (he's right) to him teaching me how to make his specialty- smoked salmon

he's one of the non-dateables in the island that I have most hearts with

probably the kind of father your classmates look forward to seeing during parent-teacher conferences because he's good looking (along with his wife, she's good looking too)

you inherited your abundant knowledge in fishing and fishes overall thanks to him, even thought you don't fish often

Sunny

I LOVE HIM

his personality totes match his name

second highest hearts with him, only because Jim loves shiitake mushrooms and wasabi and those are abundant in spring.

he reminds me a lot of my grandpa so i love him x100000000

i give him a flower everytime i see him

much like Jim, thanks to him you know a lot about fishes and fishing in general.

Jack

another cool parent, he gave me phat thai and then a lemon to make phat thai

another parent your classmates look forward to seeing during parent-teacher conferences

probably a cinnamon roll

the kind of dad whom you'd spend your weekend mornings together with the animals, telling each other about your week.

feels like a friend more than a father

Randy

TBH i don't know him enough but I have a lot of hearts with him because I see him often so I just gift him a flower like I do with everyone else (i should really chill and take it slow and talk to people smh)

probably the fun dad that you can easily open up to

definitely the kind of dad that can help you with your homework

the kind of parent every your friends look forward to seeing whenever they hang out in your house

Paul

another cinnamon roll

another dad that can help you with your homework

takes you on his adventures whenever you're not in school

lots of great memories together

always excited to tell your classmates about what he does for work

thanks to him you know a lot of animal trivia

i feel like out of all the dads, along with Randy, he'd tell the most number of dad jokes- and they're actually funny

Antonio

another dad I don't know shit about, but considering he takes days off to spend time with Valentina, he's definitely a good dad

the kind who'd take his kid's drawings to work to show his colleagues

I feel like he's also the type who'd support whatever occupation you want to pursue, as long as he sees you putting in effort and results are showing

probably lowkey strict, but you'll be thankful once you're older that he is (with a bit of pettiness cuz you missed out on some of the fun stuff your other friends went through)

you have cool and pretty outfits thanks to him HEHE

Walter

typical old money dad, what more can i say

knowing how to deal with money is something that's become second nature to you, thanks to him

brings you out to play golf with his associates

brings you out to play tennis with his associates

good luck if you're the only kid, the family business is definitely going to be managed by you

Joko

another super fun dad

cracks a lot funny jokes, not just dad jokes

his storytelling is god-tier, probably the reason why dinner is at least 2 hours long

known as the funniest dads of dads among you and your classmates

Wataru

another dude i have a lot of hearts with but don't know much about because his dialogue is so little

the kind that takes care of you silently (and you're super grateful for it)

quiet type of dad, but probably very observant regarding your needs (hence probably why Wakuu is the way he is towards him)

dinner is often quiet, but once it's time for dessert that's when the tea starts to spill (but you're doing most of the talking)

he's definitely the coolest, he owns a friggin chickin boat

[mega-angry-cloud]

hey so do you like SVA??? i was just accepted for BFA comics/cartooning and i’d love to hear ur opinion b4 i officially commit!

Pros: 95% of the professors are working professionals in the industry. (For example, my applied cartooning class is taught by the executive editor of Avatar Studios, Joan Hilty.) so they have up to date insider info and they can slip your name into job conversations if they like you.

The student pool is diverse, extremely talented and passionate. There are tons of after school clubs and events where you can meet up and make friends and collaborate.

Plus there are things like Ink Magazine, where you can submit your own comics or illustrations each semester, as well as student showcases and even mini artist alley cons. It's great practice for applying the skills that you're learning in class.

There's student job boards with leads on employment opportunities, a pretty cool print lab, a wide variety of available classes (illustration and comics majors overlap alot) and the atmosphere is very creatively open in most cases, but there are a few assholes to look out for. Which brings me to...

Cons: while the school seems to be trying to address it in recent years, there have been a lot of stories about some of the department heads being dicks about art style. Honestly, this is a risk at any art school. The trick is to make sure the feedback your getting is about the techniques you can use to achieve the look YOU are going for. Take what helps, leave what doesn't.

The school is expensive. The books are expensive. NYC is EXPENSIVE. Keep your budget in mind when making your decision, because for all I've learned at this school, (and I learned a LOT) I can't confidently say that I couldn't have improved at a cheaper school. Plus, you don't actually need a degree to be any kind of artist. Art school is more about making connections and building a strong portfolio than anything else. If you think you can do that online, don't put yourself in debt to do it in a school.

The workload is KILLER, especially in the comics program. The studio classes expect you to be able to complete 1-2 pages of comics a day, and every professor treats their hw as the most important assignment on your plate. You will be forced to improve by the sheer amount of drawing youll be doing on a daily basis. And breaks are shorter than at other schools, so less time to recharge(my guess is so they can make the summer last as long as possible to save money on the professors).

I know that might sound like a fun challenge at first, but it really wears on you. Burnout is a bitch, and its a VERY difficult place to pull yourself out of while still enjoying the thing that put you there in the first place. Do what you can not to push yourself too hard, but remember to seize opportunities to show what you got.

All in all, I've had both good and bad experiences with SVA. I've made better work here than I could've ever imagined, and I've learned so much more about comics and storytelling. The professors know what you can expect after you graduate, and they want to see you succeed. People say this alot, but you get out what you put in with this place. Stay open minded, and remember what you're trying to do.

[stranger-who-writes-fiction]

so after reading supergirl woman of tomorrow I’ve been really hungry for comics with really good art. comics that I’ve enjoyed (thanks to recs from friends) are cosmoknights and paper girls.

so I wanted to ask, do you have any recs (supergirl or not) for comics with great art?

OOOOoooh, I do indeed have some recommendations! (I too am always hungry for Really Good Comic Art, and I'll admit that I'm still working to go outside my comfort zone and try new creators/types of stories, so this list is not exhaustive! But hopefully some of these titles can act as springboards for further exploration--that's how I've been going about it!)

RIGHT, SO! In terms of 'cape comics' and superhero stuff:

Stuart Immonen's Superman: Secret Identity. Immonen is regarded as one of the best 'cape comics' artists out there. He's since moved on to self-published indie titles, but yeah. Not only is this a great 'Superman' story but also, like:

Russell Dauterman's Thor run with Jane Foster. Since Love and Thunder recently came out, I think they've collected this story in it's own trade, so it's maybe easier/cheaper to hunt down? Otherwise it's available in three hardcover omnibuses (omnibi???) and it's basically gorgeous:

Anything with Darwyn Cooke art. New Frontier is the big one but pretty much all of his work is phenomenal.

Elena Casagrande's Black Widow run. Eisner-winning book that Marvel decided to cancel at issue 15. *cue frustrated grumbling* The run has several fill in artists but when Casagrande's on? Beautiful double page spreads and, since it's a Kelly Thompson book, a whole lotta De Luca effect!

(Note: The book itself is not in black and white, I believe this was shared either by Casagrande or Thompson via a newsletter to show the process/bts stuff)

**Cliff Chiang's Catwoman Lonely City. The artist behind Papergirls doing a stellar 'Old Lady Selina' book. Great stuff.

**Greg Smallwood's Human Target. Tom King gets all the good artists, I tell ya! XD Really lovely homage to mid-century illustration, and a fairly compelling Noir-y murder mystery, told with superheroes!

Anything with Jamal Campbell art: I think the 'second season' of Naomi just wrapped (which is literally what they called the comic--not to be confused with the actual TV season ) and **Far Sector is also out as a completed trade. I *love* the way Campbell renders his figures. (And it's all him! Inks, colors, the whole deal!)

Dan Mora's Batman/Superman World's Finest. Everything Dan Mora draws is just flat-out awesome. Slick! Dynamic! Begging for an animated adaptation of some sort! Would also recommend checking out his Power Rangers stuff (he's got this very cool oneshot about like. Redemption Arc Alt-Universe Kimberly Hart/Pink Ranger. It's great.) and I've not read it myself but **Once and Future is coming to a close, so if you're into Arthurian Legends, that might be one to look in to.

Honorable Cape Comic Mentions: Anything and Everything by either Chris Samnee or Doc Shaner. (Daredevil and the current, ongoing Mary Marvel title especially.) For Samnee, beautiful use of spot blacks and a mastery of sequential storytelling; for Shaner, his color game is on point and his character acting/figure work is wonderful.

Cape Comic Anthologies:

Batman Black and White, Superman Red and Blue, Wonder Woman Black and Gold, Solo, and Wednesday Comics. Anthology books are usually a hard sell because there's no guarantee that you're going to enjoy all the stories, so I don't typically recommend them. However, these collections specifically focus on the art side of things--most of them feature a kind of artistic 'gimmick'. (I.e. limited color palettes, newspaper comic formatting, etc.) There's a ton of folks featured in these books--Batman Black and White especially, I think there's multiple volumes of that. A great way to find new artists to check out!

Non-Superhero Stuff:

Matías Bergara's Step by Bloody Step. The trade comes out soon; it's an entirely wordless comic, so the art literally carries the entire book. XD It's heckin' gorgeous, and OUR BOY MAT LOPES ON COLORRSSS

Jeff Smith's Bone. A classic in both black and white, and color!

Luke Pearson's Hilda. The series upon which the adorable Netflix show is based! Beautiful color design and fun panel construction throughout.

Jonathan Case's Little Monarchs. This one came out recent-ish I believe. Really compelling premise rooted in real-world science, and features in-universe 'field notes' and illustrations, all meticulously rendered.

**Elsa Charretier's Love Everlasting. Okay, you wanna know the WILD thing about Charretier??? She was an aspiring actress at one point, but she wasn't happy with it. Her partner at the time wanted to write comics, so he bluffed his way through a pitch with a pro without any pages. He asked her to draw some and BOOM, that's how she decided to teach herself how to draw comics!!! In 2012!!! Insanity. In the best way.

Tracy Butler's Lackadaisy. Easily one of the most beautiful and INCREDIBLY clever webcomics around. It's a bunch of rum-runner cats. I know Butler has a Patreon these days but I *think* the comic itself is still available for free.

Titles marked with a ** are Black Label/mature, so. Not appropriate for all ages. Just a heads up!

And there is the list! As mentioned, hopefully this is a good starting point for poking around into other corners of comic art; there's a TON of great indie titles out right now, and I gotta say, DC is doing a pretty great job with a lot of their Black Label stuff in terms of committing to artists in particular. Marvel is in a bit of a...not a slump, necessarily, but very tied to their 'house style' at the moment. (Alex Ross has a new Fantastic Four graphic novel coming out, though, so that should be interesting!)

If you have any other questions about these titles/further recs, feel free to send 'em my way!

[bookwyrminspiration]

Hi Quil! I'm glad to hear you've been writing a lot, even if it is a little tiring. I'm currently trying to get back into a few of my stories and figure out specific plot points and scenes. I've also been reading a few webcomics/fancomics recently too. Do you have any favorite web/fan comics? Good luck on your fic, I hope you're enjoying yourself! - Amethyst

Amethyst! Hello! It does take some energy/effort and time, but I find writing to be very rewarding and worth it in the end. There's some quote/sentiment about how things that are worthwhile take effort, and writing definitely holds true to it for me. And I am enjoying myself! It's really cool to create things where there was nothing before, and in this case I get to do it for another person!

I hope your stories and plotting goes well! Plots can be so satisfying and a nightmare to put together all at once. It's cool to fit pieces together, but sometimes the pieces don't want to fit and you're left puzzled for a while.

As for fancomics, I unfortunately don't really have anything I can share. I wish I could! I'm not a visual person, so I struggle to engage with a lot of visual media--movies, shows, manga, comics, graphic novels, etc. When I did try to engage with them more, I read mostly the popular webtoons. unOrdinary, Mage & Demon Queen, Siren's Lament, etc. I'm not caught up on them at all though

the one I do keep up with is Boyfriends, though that's mostly because I think it's got a cute style and is fun, lighthearted kind of thing. it's not too deep, and Goth is fun to look at. nothing more to it than that for me i just like looking at Goth. I'm aware it's the subject of controversy for some, but I'm not involved enough to really know about it. I did also read through Banquet recently, though. It's got some rather complex worldbuilding I haven't quite sorted out given the visual storytelling, and it feels like it's being told very slowly (nothing against the author for that! it's just not great for me when I already tend away from that kind of thing). if anyone checks that one or the author out, heads up that they're also a nsfw artist and it is an adult story (nothing explicit is public, but clearly written with adults in mind), just in case anyone isn't comfortable with that.

Unfortunately, that's pretty much the extent of my experience! Kudos to all the lovely artists and fan comic makers and everything in that regard, I'm sure their work is incredible. And I'm glad you've found some webcomics you seem to be enjoying! I'm kinda curious what they are now that you've mentioned them, but no pressure to share.

I hope you and your stories are doing well!

[poliodeuces]

HELLOOOOO I ABSOLUTELY ADORE YOUR ART it's sooo beautiful and I stare at your work so much!! do you have any art inspirations? like any artists or specific pieces that just. scratch your brain?? hope you're having a good one ^o^

first of all: thank you so much! don't get lost in it now! and secondly: i have put off answering this ask for so long bc i find that question pretty difficult to answer. i love way, way too much art. but still it's an opportunity to showcase some that i love. under the cut :) im sorry if this off from what you're expecting (crying emoji)

these are a small fraction of art that tickle my brain, only visual, sometimes inspiration just springs from a non-fiction like an essay, or in the repetition of furniture music, a strange movie with a story but with no discernible plot (the best kind of movie), when you cook a meal etc etc ....they exist where you least expect it........

i mainly do two art styles that, despite me whining abt inconsistency, are deliberate bc they give different moods, and i dont really care if my art doesnt look the same, esp since im not really interested in the industry where style consistency is part of branding yada yada. it’s more fun this way. i'll start with the inks.

one of my favourite mangaka ever is nishioka kyoudai. they're a brother-sister duo that writes these surreal poem-like stories without a plot. once you see it, it's a Very obvious inspiration. when i first got into hypmic, one of the comments i even made then was gentaro feels like a character from their work which lead to no longer human comic later for inktober www thats why i draw him a lot in the style inspired from their art...

below is the front and back cover of their most popular manga: kami no kodomo (just a warning if anyone checks this out: it's violent and disgusting. dont be like me who read them @ age 12, i was an edgy problem child)

another one of my favourites is taiyo matsumoto. art below is from their manga titled tekkon kinkreet, which has a movie ! and one of their manga got an anime adaptation as well....please watch ping pong the animation it's really good (shameless promo)

theres more, but these two mangaka really got me loving inks and not caring abt my art looking all social media pretty. weird is great!!! i embrace manga that looks unconventional

now for paintings, it's a different world ww most of them are contemporary. i like paintings that depict smth mundane or private. i love tenderness.......i like it when bodies feel like they merge into one, and where the figures' edges become imperceptible unless you look closely. intimism is where it’s at babey!!

(artists in order from left to right: egon schiele; toulouse-lautrec; ron hicks; doron langberg)

but non-representational art is really cool too...

(lindy chambers, julia soboleva, melissa santamaria, mark rothko)

im inspired by whatever this page called "1995 was an ok year" on facebook does. smth i want to get across w my art (although im aware i dont post my personal art here, maybe it happens w my fanart too who knows), when i really really try, is to recall memory that maybe didnt even happen, but the mood is there and it's felt. im terrible at storytelling but im obsessed with atmosphere, i hope it works lol

have a good day too anon !! sorry for the long reply

[fansofvow]

Interview with Eve Golden Woods!

Many of you know who is Eve is. She's a writer and artist, a part of Dreamfeel studios whose beautiful game If Found won Best LGBTQ Narrative and Best LGBTQ Indie game at the first ever Gayming Awards presented by EA games. I am really excited I had the chance to ask Eve some questions about herself, her time at Lovestruck and her creative process.

Congratulations on the two Gayming Awards (Best LGBTQ Narrative, Best LGBTQ Indie Game) for "If Found" from your game studio, Dreamfeel. What was the inspiration behind making the game?

If Found... was a game that emerged out of a collaboration between Llaura McGee, the founder of Dreamfeel, and artist Liadh Young. Liadh's background is as a comic artist, and so when they started working together Llaura had the idea of showing off Liadh's art by making a diary game, and using an erasing mechanic she had previously developed to let the player move through the diary in a fun way. By the time I came on board at the start of 2019, the game had already been in development for a while, so in some ways my work on that game was similar to the work I did for Voltage, because it was taking existing characters and concepts and writing a lot of scripts for them. Unlike Voltage, though, my work for Dreamfeel was a lot more collaborative and I had a lot more creative input. I really enjoy taking something and helping to make it the best version of itself that it can possibly be, but I was also really happy that I got to reflect a lot of my own experiences in If Found. Llaura and I both grew up on the west coast of Ireland, and although If Found... isn't autobiographical for either of us, it was definitely really meaningful to be able to tell a story that reflected our own experiences of growing up as queer teens in a similar kind of environment. Since the game came out we've had fans reach out to us and tell us that they also connected to the experiences of the main characters, and as far as I'm concerned, that makes me feel like I achieved everything I wanted to.

You are a writer and a visual artist. Does one come easier to you than the other?

I used to think of art and writing as talents, and I always felt like my art was at a very mediocre level (that's probably still true, lol). So when I was younger I focused a lot more on writing. It was only later that I started genuinely trying to improve as an artist, but when I did, I think I had a much healthier mindset, and approached it as a skill I could learn with patience and effort. Because of that, even though I still have a lot more confidence in my writing, I find art more fun and relaxing, and I don't stress about it as much.

Did you always know you would follow a creative path?

Kind of? Both my parents are artists, and I grew up surrounded by artists and writers, so it was something that was always very familiar and accessible to me. On the other hand, I didn't exactly have a clear idea of how to make it into a career, or what kind of work would be involved. But there's never been a point in my life where I wasn't doing something creative, even if it was only writing fanfiction.

What did your path to working professionally as a writer/artist look like?

I did a creative writing masters in college, but after that I spent years teaching English as a second language. That was really fun and I got to live abroad, but it was so busy and tiring that I didn't have time to do any writing outside of the occasional fanfic. I only started to take art seriously again when I became interested in games and comics as ways of telling stories. I did some critical writing, which led me to speak at a few local events and get involved in zine fairs. That was how I met Llaura, the director and lead of the Dreamfeel studio, and it's also what gave me the confidence to start applying for actual writing jobs.

Is there any work of art, visual or written, that you look to for inspiration?

So many! I try to read and watch as widely as I can, although there are touchstones I always return to, like the works of Ursula Le Guin and Terry Pratchett. Right now I feel very passionate about the actual play podcast Friends at the Table, which manages to combine really thoughtful worldbuilding and storytelling with cool, fun characters and great action scenes. I'm also reading a book called The Memory Police by Youko Ogawa, which has extremely beautiful prose.

Do you have a favorite piece of your own art, whether it is something you’ve drawn, a screenshot of something you’ve written or something else?

My favourite piece of art is usually whatever I finished most recently (I think that's true for a lot of people). Especially with visual art, once a bit of time has gone by you look back on it and start to notice all your mistakes, which is very annoying. But actually I do still really like the first piece of Fiona fanart I did last year. I managed to use some effects to give it a kind of nineties anime quality that I find really fun, and I think it conveys an emotion pretty effectively. That's always one of the hardest things to predict with visual art, whether the different parts will come together to create the exact mood you're looking for.

I also really like the compass I did for Bycatch. Krissy (@xekstrin) was the one who suggested filling it with fingernails, which was such a good, gross idea! As soon as I heard that I knew it was perfect and that I had to try and draw it.

Many people who read this blog know you as a writer for Lovestruck. When you look back on your time there, what stands out in your mind?

Lovestruck was very important to me when I first started because it was my first ongoing, regular, paid writing work. It gave me a lot of confidence and helped me to get into the habit of writing consistently and rapidly, which is a really useful skill to have. I know I was right to leave when I did, though, because I am just brimming with energy to work on my own projects, and channeling that power into something that you can't control will always end up disappointing you. Also, I made a ton of incredible friends, through Lovestruck itself but then even more so through VOW (@vowtogether), and that is more than worth all the difficult parts.

Is there any character that you would have liked a crack at writing?

Oh gosh, what a fun question! There are so many, but one I do sometimes think about is Axia, just because I know there are a bunch of fans who want her route, and because I had fun writing her as a villain in Zain's route. I can see in my head the shadow of a storyline that takes place after Zain's route is over, where she's in prison and trying to understand how she lost the battle with Zain and MC. I think there's, like, a gap there, where you could see her downfall forcing her to reconsider her assumptions about power, and that could build into a very interesting redemption story. But maybe it's for the best I never got to do that, because I would have wanted full creative control over it, and also I think the story in my head is very different to the sexy, in control, menacing version of Axia that her fans enjoy.

Do you have any upcoming projects you can talk about?

Most of my current work is under NDA, but I will say that I'm doing something very exciting with other VOW members that we should be able to talk about soon(ish). Maybe I can even give a little teaser... It's not a game, but it is something you can read, and my part involves cakes, swamps, and a museum.

Do you have a favorite quote or song lyric?

It's a big long, but there's a section from The Dispossessed by Ursula le Guin that has stayed with me ever since I read it:

"For we each of us deserve everything, every luxury that was ever piled in the tombs of the dead kings, and we each of us deserve nothing, not a mouthful of bread in hunger. Have we not eaten while another starved? Will you punish us for that? Will you reward us for the virtue of starving while others ate? No man earns punishment, no man earns reward. Free your mind of the idea of deserving, the idea of earning, and you will begin to be able to think."

It's such a profoundly radical way of imagining the world, so different to everything I was raised with, but whenever I think about it I feel like I can see something very beautiful and powerful that I hope to come closer to understanding some day.

And of course, "Solidarity forever, the union makes us strong."

I was a big fan of the show Inside the Actor’s Studio. Host James Lipton asked every single guest the same 10 concluding questions. I’ve picked 3 of them:

-What is your favorite word?

My favourite word: for sound, I like words you can really roll around on your tongue. Chthonic, alabaster, insinuation. For meaning, I think simple words that encapsulate big concepts have a kind of power to them. We use them so often we forget how big they are, how much weight they really have, but they give us the space to imagine new possibilities. Love. Freedom. Revolution.

-What is your least favorite word?

I've heard that "moist" is a lot of people's least favourite word but it doesn't actually bother me. My least favourite word is probably one where I feel like the sound doesn't match the meaning. One of the Irish words for rain is báisteach, which I feel has a much weightier and more onomatopoeic sound than rain. Rain is just very flat and uninteresting.

-What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?

Oh, so many! I love history, and I think being a historian/archaeologist would be fascinating. Or something that had a physical component to it, like being a potter or a carpenter. I don't think I'd be any good, but I'd love to take the time to learn.

What would be your advice to anyone who wants to pursue a creative career?

All the work you do matters. Even the failed experiments, the things you hate when they're finished. It all helps to make you better. Also, creative career paths are often really unexpected, so chase any opportunity that seems remotely interesting. Don't work for free for anyone who can afford to pay, but work for yourself and put it somewhere. On a blog, twitter, whatever. You'd be amazed how many people get noticed and get offered opportunities because of something they made in their spare time. You'll probably have to work another job for a long time, so don't be hard on yourself if you're too tired to devote much energy to creative work. Try to make art consistently, but don't feel like that has to mean every day. Don't chase after celebrities. Make friends with your peers.

[sweetescapeartist]

MY DBS MANGA CHAPTER 70 REVIEW

We learn in the last chapter that the Cerealian Dragon's name is Toronbo when Granolah speaks Namekian. Toronbo grants Granolah's wish but can't make Granolah stronger than the gods.

Here's the confusion I have... Goku is a mortal beyond GoDs so making Granolah the strongest mortal is making him stronger than gods. If you wanna say Beerus has been training and is now stronger than Goku, there's still a problem. It was said that Goku and Vegeta were stronger than some GoDs right before the ToP (but that might be anime only, so maybe it doesn't apply here). So Granolah is stronger than GoDs no matter what. If the gods that Toronbo is speaking of are the Angels, then that means Granolah is Ultra Instinct level of power since Goku is the lowest in Angel tier. But whatever. Bottom line is Granolah is temporarily stronger than Goku who may or may not be stronger than Beerus.

Granolah gets his wish granted and the cost is shortening his life... cool. Not much to say except let's see how its executed.

(I recently read that in DBXV2, during the Infinite History Saga, Videl is enchanted with Towa's Dark Magic spell by Dabura shaving off her life but granting her greater power. So granting power at the cost of lifespan has been done in DB before. Not in canon but in the games.)

Also, Granolah's life being shortened to 3 yrs got me thinking... Currently it's almost AGE 781 in the DBS manga timeline. Goku leaves to train Uub in AGE 784. We got 3 yrs left. The original manga shows Bulma said she hadn't seen Goku in 5 yrs. How I see DBS is that it is an alternate timeline that just happens to have a similar outcome to the EoZ.

So... why is Vegeta learing from Beerus again if Beerus isn't that strong now? Is Vegeta being like Krillin and continuing his learning from a master weaker than him, but gaining wisdom & knowledge? I-is Vegeta becoming Krillin 2.0?! (More like dollar-store Krillin)

I do think beerus got stronger tho. He seems very confident that Vegeta can get stronger from learning from him. Beerus probably saw Goku get UI then decide to train aftet the ToP

Anyways, Beerus is teaching us about hakai/destruction energy. Its erasing something from existence, not just destroying it (we already knew that). But, Vegeta quickly figures out how to do it anyways. By destroying a tiny pebble...

A tangent again but I personally think Piccolo is capable of easily learning Hakai energy. Think about it. Piccolo can create clothing out of nothing, why could he not do the reverse?

Goku is uninterested in what Beerus & Vegeta are doing. I dont know about you, but it sounds like Goku thinks that he's above Beerus in strength. Beerus & Vegeta aren't considered a challenge to him in any way. Goku sees UI as more important & better than anything Beerus has to teach, and Goku is right. Plus Goku learned Hakai on his own while Vegeta needs Beerus to teach him. It's a waste of Goku's time to learn it again.

(God Comics is funny. I imagine Toribot writes them)

Goku says "Let's see which one of us can be the strongest in the universe!" Really, Goku...? At present time, Goku is the strongest mortal in the universe already. He should know that. Then Vegeta for some reason thinks he will become the strongest in the universe. The last time manga Vegeta was the strongest mortal in the universe was... never. He's always behind Goku or whatever new opponent arises. This scene is meant to be comedic that they're arguing over who will be the greatest but it's not funny to me. And yet Vegeta fans still hold on for hope.

But why is Goku concerned about being the strongest between him & Vegeta? Goku is far above Vegeta. They're not rivals at this point. Also, Goku was the strongest in the universe until just a few moments ago. Goku should be saying "I knew bein' the strongest wouldn't last for too long. Roshi did tell me there will always be somebody stronger out there. Hehe! This is gettin' me excited! I can't wait to meet 'em!" (This would alsp parallel Monaito giving Granolah the same advice Goku already knows.)

Also, I guess Broly isn't that strong after all. Bye Broly, you served your purpose. And to think that Goku had said that he thinks Broly is stronger than Beerus...

Oh yeah. So Vegeta destroys a pebble. Impressive? Goku kinda gives a compliment or he is practically saying "Good job Vegeta! You're doing great following in my footsteps!" Seriously, this would be so much better and cooler if this seperate paths of training began right after the Universe 6 vs Universe 7 tournament. That would be the perfect spot to have them train under Beerus & Whis. [Vegeta using Hakai against Merged Zamasu, Goku able to fight Merged Zamasu temporarily because he is getting better at letting his body move on its own, Toppo & Vegeta using Hakai against each other as Goku & Jiren use power above GoDs. That would work so much better.]

Then Vegeta says he's gonna destroy bigger things soon... is that supposed to be more impressive? Its not. But this it to build up Vegeta even though there is nothing amazing about anything he is doing at the moment. Maybe later tho.

So Cerealians can't grow beards. Also I guess Granolah's race don't age? His hair grew when his lifespan was shortened but he has no wrinkles. It seems that they age more gracefully than Saiyans. If he has some wrinkles he would have looked cooler imo. Or those lines under the eyes at the very least. If the wish shortened his life & made his hair grow, it should have also showed that he aged. (Here's an edit I made of "Grampa Granolah." You're welcome)

And remember Vegeta destroying a pebble? Granolah can suddenly destroy big rocks! Cool right?! No? Its not cool? Showing Granolah destroy a much larger object right afterwards kinda belittles Vegeta's accomplishment.

Oatmil is surprised by a boulder exploding. This means one of 2 things. Oatmil is stupid & never saw an Granolah explode a boulder. Or it's implying that the boulder exploding is some technique Oatmil doesn't know of. Idk how he can tell its any different from just blowing up a rock with ki. I think it's supposed to be destruction energy. If it is then, ok. If getting his wish was so easy, then why can't he suddenly learn destruction as well?

Yay! Monaito! (This really should be a Namekian focused arc)

Granolah reminds me of Zamasu with his attitude a bit. Monaito tells him somebody stronger will definetly appear. Granolah has become like Vegeta and is over confident, so he is destined to get humbled. And think about this. Goku can probably train a bit and surpass Granolah within a week.

Granolah can now sense ki. Meaning he can have the destruction technique or UI, because why not?

Monaito blames himself for Granolah's actions. Its not your fault Monaito! You did nothing wrong! Dont be so hard on yourself.

Whis being a creep and peeping on people lol.

Granolah's hair growing was pointless because he cuts it off soon after. Nothing changed visually. This kinda reminds me of how Moro lost his arm. Goku gave him a senzu, Moro grew it back, & then Moro broke his arm when attacking Goku. Then Moro tore his arm off & reattached his old one. There was no need for Moro to grow his arm back then tear it off. Similarly, there is no need for Granolah to have grown long hair then cut it off.

Maki still brings a smile to my face. She & Gas stand out the most out of the Heeters. Maki's personality is kinda like Zangya combined with a teasing Bulma. Gas reminds me of a Krillin/Piccolo fusion with dreadlocks. I also ship Maki x Gas cause they're short and look cute together. (please don't be siblings so I can draw them together🤞)

Granolah fights Oil & Maki. I'm not impressed. They seem like they could be defeated by Chaoitzu (he's stronger than Raditz and probably Nappa now too). Granolah's movements could be seen as UI. If it is or isn't UI, it doesn't matter. Showing off that kind of power is like Goku using Ultra Instinct during a rematch with Nam or King Chappa. Its not effective storytelling. There had to be a better way of showing Granolah's new strength than making him fight opponents that give him zero challenge.

The art is good as usual and the panel flow is nice. Toyotaro is improving at creating the illusion of motion. The environment being used in the fight was smart and a good visual. Toyo still uses a ton of panels almost every page tho. But he's still a better artist than I am.

Granolah appears to have used Hakai again. Not the explosive variant but the sand variant (yes I think there are 2 ways of using Hakai).

The "Sand Variant" that Beerus & Goku (& maybe Granolah) have used.

The "Explosive Variant" Beerus & Vegeta (& maybe Granolah) have used.

Maki thinks the "Hakai" is magic so that's interesting. I would say I'd like for the next enemy to be a magic user but, we know how Moro turned out... 😓

Maki has "ki claws" & I like the idea but it would be better if she had used it against an enemy she can defeat. It doesn't make her look useful in this fight. Gas seems confident when he is about to fight Granolah, but Elec stops him. Gas would've gotten beaten but it make ya wonder what Gas can do.

Granolah appears to be a person that is easily manipulated and persuaded. He even gave information they weren't even asking for. He'll probably be easily convinced and manipulated by Freeza/the Hedters or quickly have a truce with Goku.

The Heeters plan to go to Planet Cereal to get the Dragon Balls. As I suspected, the Cerealian Dragon Balls were created so that it would be easy for wishes to be granted. Gathering 2 Dragon Balls on a nearby planet instead of gathering 7 on New Namek or Earth. Plus these new Dragon Balls ensures no interaction between Earthlings & Granolah/the Heeters. A perfect way to write Gohan & company out of the story... *sigh* 😔😒

We learn Cerealians live for 2 centuries. How's that compare to other races in Universe 7? Freeza & King Cold apparently can live more than 200 yrs, But that may be because they are mutants. Namekians can live for like 500 yrs & its possible for them to reincarnate themselves too. So in a way, Namekians can live forever. Saiyans stay youthful & live to be in their 80's, but rapidly age when they reach their 60's or 70's. Average Earthlings appear live to be in their 80's or 90's but some are over 100 yrs old (Dr. Briefs, Panchy, & Ox King are in their 90's in GT) and others can increase their lifespan through elixers or the Paradise Herb. Just some thoughts of mine.

Maki says "If he ices Freeza..." Ha, an ice pun. Elec wants to defeat Freeza so he can control his army. Its revealed they wanna kill Granolah & that they worked with Freeza to destroy his planet & race. Well... that more than likely means they're gonna die by Granolah's hand or Freeza's. This info is also an attempt to make the reader more sympathetic for Granolah. Granolah is too bland (pun intended) so I don't feel any more sympathy than I already had for him. Elec plans to make Goku & Vegeta fight Granolah since Granolah hates Saiyans. Smart but we all kinda expected it. Not bad writing tho.

The final panel talks about fate bringing the 3 (Goku, Vegeta, & Granolah) together. Sounds like a repeat of the Broly movie.

We've had 4 chapters in this arc & not 1 panel of Freeza... If Freeza doesnt appear & do something in the next chapter then I will be disappointed in the writing. Showing Freeza here and there would give tension and build up until we get the encounter with him. We also have no idea who Oatmil is. Is he an A.I. or a person? Not that big of a deal yet, but I would like to find out soon. Either show Freeza or tell us more about Oatmil next chapter pleaae

This chapter was like oatmeal (the food not the character) without butter, brown sugar, milk, & honey or raisins. Not bad, but not very good either. 

So here's my thoughts on the things that could or could not happen in this arc.

Goku vs Granolah. I don't care for the fight because the power is at a point that it doesnt make sense for enemies to get to without cheating somehow. The fight will look cool but I have no interest in it.

Vegeta vs Granolah will have Vegeta being stomped as always and Vegeta fans will make excuses & complain how it's not fair. A lot of Vegeta fans often make fun of Yamcha & Krillin for getting beat up even though those 2 bravely fight opponents leagues stronger than they are. Vegeta has gotten stomped by opponents more times than Krillin & Yamcha combined but the fans gotta deflect somehow. I don't care to hear or see the complaining again.

The interaction and dialogue between Granolah & Vegeta is going to be more interesting than their fight. But I worry because Toyo isn't the best at writing dialogue.

I have no reason to care about power growth, certain interactions, or Goku & Vegeta's training.

What I am curious about/want to see?

Monaito's well being. I want him to reunite with other Namekians. But I think he's been set up to die.

Lore about the dragon gods & Namekian lore we probably wont get.

I want Piccolo, Krillin, Gohan, & others will be involved. Piccolo because of the Namekian & wosh granting dragon lore. Gohan because his interaction with Granolah eould be interesting since Gohan is half Saiyan & views himself as an Earthling. Krillin & other Earthlings because they can bring tensions where characters like Goku & Vegeta can't. Those 2 are too strong for there to be any real tension. However Earthlings aren't all powerful so them using wits to survive is more exciting. But I doubt any of their involvement.

How long a Cerealian year is? Is it shorter than a Namekian year? How much time will pass for the Cerealian Dragon Balls to be active? How much stronger than Granolah will Goku get? Hopefully the answers aren't lazy...

Will Beerus finally fight somebody? There are 6 mortals that are near or above his power (Goku, Granolah, Vegeta, Broly, Freeza, Gohan).

Who's the villian of the next arc & what explanation is going to be given for them having power on the level of Angels? Angel tier fights don't sound interesting to me anymore. After those kinds of battles, Goku will have no challengers left.

Will Goku disappear to train or something so the story can TRY to match up with the EoZ?

Will Goten, Trunks, & Marron hit their growth spurts within 3 yrs?

Will we get spin-off manga about other characters? PLEASE!? 🙏

Also DBS moved too quickly when it comes to power. Now we're at the point that Goku & Vegeta need to stop being involved in fights for there to be any actual threat or tension. The Buu saga took place in AGE  774. After training for 4 years of peace, Goku thought SS3 & fusion was his limits as a Saiyan and he was right. Well, kinda... Goku was introduced to god ki near the end of AGE 778. Then in AGE 781, Goku masters Ultra Instinct... He mastered an Angel technique in 2 year or 2.5 yrs. That was waaaay too fast. As a result the storytelling & writing are suffering from this rushed progress. Now we're gonna have an Angel tier opponent? According to the pattern of DBS, Goku's gonna end up surpassing the Angels within 2 or 3 yrs after learning god ki. Thats not impressive for Goku, that's terrible writing. And no, Goku getting this strong so fast is not a benefit to Saiyans either. It just shows us that without god ki, Saiyans ain't all that powerful unless they're the legendary Saiyan like Broly. Saiyans didn't even have a concept of training until Goku was trained by Earthlings. Gohan, Freeza, 17, & I'm pretty sure Piccolo as well have all surpassed SS3 without the help of god ki. God ki makes Saiyans look like they have limits. With god ki, the writing is broken....

I got off topic again... Anyways that's the end of my review.

[insipid-drivel]

Any tips for someone who wants to make a lil surreal webcomic/series?

Sure! I no longer am affiliated with doublethickcustard, but I'm totally cool with sharing the behind-the-scenes creative process that ultimately were produced into webcomics:

Firstly, I'm a hardcore writer, not an artist, so I kind of tripped and fell into the world of webcomics by meeting DTC and finding that we had very compatible fantasy ideas. He was the art behind the comics (I'm not sure if he's still in the game; I haven't heard from him in years), while I worked on most of the worldbuilding, mythology, bestiary, main characters, pantheons, cultures, and even maps of the universe that I was initially working on myself and planning to publish as a novel, but DTC got into my work so much that he started painting characters and scenes and eventually got the idea to publish them as webcomics since they're such a popular format these days for storytelling.

When we started working together, we wrote the stories like books with the mind of creating a working manuscript. After a chapter was complete, it was time to storyboard, which he did from an artistic standpoint, and I did from the standpoint of distilling prose and dialogue into more condensed phrasing to fit well in speech/thought bubbles.

So, Rule #1: You want the size aspect ratios of thought and dialogue bubbles to take up about as little space in a panel or page as possible while remaining true to the core story and keeping the characters in-character. You don't want speech bubbles to take up more than about 25-50% of a panel (depending on the resolution you're using). However you can make exceptions if there's rapid-fire back-and-forth dialogue that you want to flow well and keep your readers engaged. For panels where a lot of dialogue is unavoidable and you can't fit a whole lot of art in, lean toward compensating by focusing on facial expressions and gestures between characters. That will let your readers picture the characters conversing while reading along.

#2: Don't be afraid to have fun with fonts. One great and crafty way to further impress your characters' moods and personalities is by assigning them with their own unique fonts. If you have a hard time thinking from that perspective, try thinking, "What would this character's handwriting look like?" Using colorful fonts to portray emotion (red for anger, for example) is also a great way to keep a reader's attention. You want to play on their peripheral vision so while they're looking at the art, they're still subconsciously registering dialogue even if they've finished reading it in that panel. Your brain is able to register an extraordinary amount of information using your peripheral vision, even when you're focused on one thing in particular. Your brain is still cataloguing the entire page even after you've moved your eyes across multiple panels.

#3: If you're working with a partner, get everything regarding publishing and monetary benefits in writing. DTC screwed me out of our earnings and I never saw a penny because he kept the money to himself and refused to share it with me because "as an artist, I do the really hard work and you just write shit. I'll let you have some money if you tell me what it's for. Why don't you trust me?" I'm an Aspie and was taken advantage of. I wound up relying on my mother just to afford food.

#4: "Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self." -Cyril Connolly. I highly discourage trying to write and produce a story for an audience. Write and publish what you love to do, and your passion and dedication to your craft will endear your readers and shine through your work. You may be publishing, but it's still your work. Your creativity. Your spirit. The death knell to the passionate creator is having other outside forces pushing you away from what you want to create in order to please an audience. Let fanfiction writers retcon and reinterpret as they will. Your artistic integrity should always come first.

#5: Don't force it. Don't over-exhaust yourself in trying to meet strict deadlines and make yourself anxious and panicky to hurry up and get a new chapter out. If you're not a person that is comfortable with keeping a regimented work cycle, then just let your readers know. "You can look forward to a new chapter about every [your comfort zone here], but remember that I'm human, and sometimes life and writer's block happens." If you're up-front with your readers from the get-go that you're human and you have your own needs and life to lead outside of publishing, they'll respect you for being forthcoming. If anybody digs at you about it, feel free to send them my way. It's okay if you need an advocate to handle comments from your audience. You're not weak for struggling with unsolicited critique. In fact, here's my ancient essay "Unsolicited Critique And Why You Should Fuck Off" I wrote back in 2016.

#6: There are free platforms everywhere. You don't have to shell out a ton of money for specialized software. I use Google Drive exclusively and it suits me very well. And remember, analogue is not dead. If you like to do your webcomics by hand in sketchbooks or on storyboarding easels, go for it, and you can upload your work for free by going to your local library. Lots of libraries have scanners that you can use to scan your art so you can digitize it and get it out there online for free. Many libraries are also strict about wiping their computers' metadata on a regular basis in order to prevent the government from using your reading and browsing habits against you to get their own way, so utilizing libraries can be an excellent source of anonymity (especially if you're researching "suspicious" content like The Anarchist's Cookbook; governments do flag certain sources of content as being potential material for terrorism paranoia. If you're concerned about your anonymity, consider utilizing a VPN; there are open-market VPNs available for free out there and they're not too hard to find.)

Regarding surrealism:

Surrealism is a tricky, yet rewarding path to pursue. However, it's difficult to do it well. I love to work with surrealism, because I have an extremely powerful manifestation of a condition called Schizotypal Personality Disorder. My entire life is a surreal experience, and so I have intimate familiarity with it. Here's how I express surrealism:

#1: Research. Get the most accurate, real-world information and data about the setting you're writing, even if it's not even close to being in the realm of reality. Sometimes, reality is surreal on its own. Whenever you have a subject you want to work with in your comics, before you start writing, look things up. Do not base your work on what you've seen other artists and television shows do. Almost all of it is rooted in hogwash. Look into experts; when you're writing about injuries, research what real trauma surgeons and EMTs really experience, for example. Get the hard facts and a solid foundation in reality, and then start bending and breaking the rules.

#2: Once you've got a solid understanding of what's really a real-world possibility in a scenario or setting, start fucking around. Be subtle at first. Start lacing little inconsistencies that, upon re-reading or closer scrutiny, will make your readers go, "Wait, what the hell?" Shoot for making your readers do a double-take. Don't highlight your little mind-games, and absolutely aim for sowing the seeds of uncertainty in your audience. When they have an uneasy sense that there's something off about the story, they'll keep reading and re-reading in order to try to puzzle things out. It's in moments like those (you'll it when you reach it; trust your instincts) where you can abruptly turn things upside down and inside out and completely shock and spellbind your audience. Misdirection is your best friend.

#3: Don't use the same mind-games twice in the same story. Your audience is full of people that are scanning for the rhythm of your work and trying to anticipate what's going to happen next. With every installation of your webcomic, tweak your approaches and disguise them by repackaging them in a new, sneaky manner. You can still use the same surrealist logic, but putting it behind many different guises will keep your audience surprised while not requiring you make extreme quantum leaps around in your surrealism; thereby saving you time and energy, while also making your audience smack themselves on the forehead with, "Dammit, you got me again?!"

#4: Leave some questions unanswered and some fates undetermined - not only will it continue hooking in readers, but it also gives your fans fuel for fanfiction and conjecture, causing them to mislead themselves. Keep your secrets and tricks close to the vest. Even as I reply to you here, note that I'm not giving examples from my own work. I'm totally happy for this reply to circulate, but it's not going to teach my audience anything new about my own secret methods. This may be unsatisfying an answer for you, but I'm still a working writer, too ;)

I really hope this helps. Get out there and pursue your dreams!

[crisps-craft]

hello!! i hope you're having a great day, i came across your blog and i wanted so bad to get one of your readings, please.

so, my question is: if i follow my dream to write all the stories i create in my head, would i be a good writer and have success with it?

thank you!!! <3

-m.s.g.c (sag sun, aqua moon and cancer rising)

aw hello!! of course! here you go!

so i pulled: 3 of cups, hierophant, queen of swords, page of pentacles, 8 of swords, justice, 2 of pentacles, ace of cups

absolutely! your spirit guides are telling me something important right now- recognize that your creativity is a gift! not only that, but creativity is innately very divine in essence. if you have the ability to not only be a storyteller but to have that creative flow to weave characters and plots and messages to people, then you should 100% believe in it and pursue it. im getting this sense that you kind of lack faith in yourself? you might be holding yourself back. you might feel insecure about what others will think. i also heard "stage fright" - you might be a shy person. like i got this sense of an artist who has created a piece and shyly holds it back against their chest so no one can see.

my best advice for that is to lead your spirit and creativity with pure authentic passion - don't act out of fear worrying if it is what audiences will want or deem "good". Good and bad are subjective, not objective - what someone really likes is something someone else might not like. i just think that realizing that can help the creative process because in the end, you just have to be yourself and not care about what other people think. when you do that, you are acting your creativity out from a place of fear and anxiety. i feel like those worries might make you struggle writing sometimes - it might cause writer's block for you. Just trust your instinct for writing, if you think its good, then write it (again, spirit is like "trust yourself ! it is good") Doesn't matter what others think. be completely yourself is the message - that unabashed authenticity is something that makes artists and writers great, in my opinion.

I see so much potential in you so plz make sure to nurture and have faith in your craft! you also got page of pentacles which is showing that, with writing, i think you take it very seriously. the more you write, the better you will get. i think that over time you will feel more confident in yourself and you will see the fruits of your labor manifest. the page is someone who feels like they are still learning things or maybe that they've haven't reached the end goal of who they want to become, but they are taking it upon themselves to start that path of hard work. they want to mature their passion and grow with it. i also want to explain the queen of swords. she is someone who has a lot of personal power- i think again, you will be stepping into confidence and mastery of writing. u just feel more like the page than the queen rn but spirit wants me to tell you to keep working at it! because you will grow and do well. justice is also telling me that there will be a payoff- what you put in is what you will get out. but yes- i see lots of good stuff. do your thing and trust in yourself! also, idk why but my interpretation of the hierophant kept making me think of publishers. i do think in the future, you will get there. right now is the growth stage but i think you will get published somewhere someday in some way. i do get a really good intuitive feeling about the future though. like when i connect to your future self, i get a sense of power and confidence- its very cool. i think people will notice and be attracted to this.

i hope this could help you and was accurate! let me know if it resonated.

[part2of3]

Are you angry at me or you angry at the person who made the original article? Cuz basically all I did was copy and paste that over here. I have talked about the deaths in the other movies in other posts that I've made. Just not here.

I really wasn't comfortable with those either. But there was a huge difference between them. And the other movies. In the Burton movies and the Nolan movies, the deaths that happened because of Batman where collateral damage. And in most cases they were only suggested to have happened off-screen. Like when his Batmobile surrounded by some people and the car drops some bombs. They cut to an exterior shot of the explosion. Maybe the guys got out in time? Or I think there was a scene where he set a guy on fire. But it was more of those freaky circus people from Penguins troop and Batman Returns. A fire-eater. So maybe his suit had some kind of insulation or something.

I'm not necessarily trying to make excuses for those movies. What I'm saying is that those movies may or may not have had people die because they were action movies. It was expected to have action and explosions and spectacles for the audience to fall for. I didn't agree with those either. But there's a difference between a director giving his movie some cinematic Flair to appease the popcorn going audience. As opposed to a director who has a character that’s always been driven by no-gun rule pick up a set of guns and straight up point them at people. My problem with Snyder's version of Batman isn't necessarily just the fact that Batman killed people. It's more to the fact that his version of Batman wasn't Batman. Besides the name and the costume, there was absolutely nothing else recognizable about him. His morals, his principles, his personality, none of the traits that people associate with Batman were there.

The fact that Snyder had his character kill people in the movies wasn't because he was doing his own version of the character. This wasn't like a Frank Miller Story or an Alan Moore story, (and I have issues with those too). This wasn't artistic license trying to put a new spin on an old character. i wouldn’t have  ap problem with that. Every Storyteller has a right to make something is own. Danny O'Neill's Batman in the 80s felt completely different from Adam West Batman in the 60s. And O'Neil's Batman feels very different from Burton's Batman. And Tom Kings new Batman feels very different from Chris Nolan's Batman. But at the very core of it all, all those different versions still felt like Batman one way or another.

That wasn't the case with Zack Snyder's . This was a guy who clearly had no respect or even the basic understandings of who this character was. When you're adopting something that's been around for 80 years, you have a responsibility to adhere to everything that the characters come to represent to people. Everything that the character has come to stand for. You can't just cherry pick one moment in one panel of one comic 80 years ago and then claim that it's Canon as a way to justify doing whatever you want. It doesn't matter if he's killed in the comics before. It doesn't matter if he's killed me other movies before. Just because it's happened before doesn't make it right. You can make some changes, but you still have to understand the character. You can change things about him. He change things about his life, or things that he's done, but you can't change his soul for lack of a better word.

Zack Snyder just wants to do badass action movies with 'cool' shit. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that. He has a great talent for that. That is not what was needed for this particular character.

Miller's Dark Knight Returns is probably the only Batman comic he's ever read.

Show this article to the Zack Snyder supporters who claimed that Snyder was justified to have Batman murder people because he supposedly killed people in the comics before.

https://www.polygon.com/2019/4/2/18292128/batman-no-killing-rule-zack-snyder